The Dickinson press., 1887-10-08
SERIOUS lIUMORISTS.
THE MIsFoRTuNEs THAT BEFELL
SAKE, BURDETTE AND BAILY.

Many of Our Most Popular Humorists
Write from ~ Heart Full of Sorrow
Saxe's Sad I.ot-I:urdctte's Wifc.Bai
lcy's Heroic Devotion.
| have been impressed with the curious
| fact thai many of our most popular huuor-
lists write from n heart full of sorrow. They
are often men WHO have uncommon tlomes-
tic ailiictons To bear, such trials and troubles
as sometimes drive other men to drink, and
not few to suicide. But the genuine hui
moriSt, like Goldsmith, or Tom Hood, or the
lat" John u. Sake, or the unfortunate Arte-
ml'' Ward, is usually Il man of many sorrows,
who smiles in spite of himself while looking
upon the dark side Of life. l once lived in
New York i'll the same house i'll which Arte-
mus Ward boarded. 1t was very near what
was then known as ST. Johns park, but
winch is now the great Hudson River freight
depot. Poor Ward, after giving IL brilliant
lecture up town would return to his tempo
rary home, his pockets stuffed with money.
He would usually come lome intoxicated and
throw himself upon 'li" bed, after cmptying
his pockets and scattering their contents over
the room. Il o"n't care for money! hc
would say. II don't care for fame. | am
the most miserable and unhappy of mcn.''
~ POETS SAD LOT
The world knows of the misfortunes which
overwhelmed John q. SAKE, and how he lived
tor years u prey To melancholy, the wreck of
railway accident, and almost the only sr-
vlVor OF his once large and Interesting family.
remember him well i'll his prime, when he
resided in pretty brick cottage on Union
street, i'll til" lovely little city of Burlington.
w. Then he had II charming wife and n
large family of children He was in the best
Of health, of perfect physical build, as tall
and handsome II fellow MS one could wish to
ST." ii" was ut the height of his fame as n
poet and Il lecturer. and had nothing to do
but travel over the country and scoop in the
dollars" ns Eli Perkins does nowadays. 1t
seemed rs if fortune SMILED upon SAKE. and
MS if his days of joy and sunshine would
n"Vcrcnd. was student in college then.
and remember how | used to envy him his
happy lot. Tho years flew swiftly by, and
time wrought sad havoc with the SAKE FAM
lily, as we'll as with the genial poet himself.
HIS wife died, and all Of the children, save
one, followed her to the grave, victims Of
consumption, wasat the wedding of ono
OF MIR >aXe's sens, in New York CITY. when
lr married Il daughter OF the late judge
Sutherland. In few years both bride nnl
f''7''''
both sides III" now dead. OF t!l" lmets recent
death and its sui circumstances it is unupcos-
Sary To speak.
POOR brHDETTE'S WIFE,
The sa,l!cst case have heard of rccentlv 10
hat Of Bob Eurlcttc His Young nmi bnnd.
some wife became n dreadful sufferer from
rheumatism Nothing gave her relief and
she dilly grew WORSE Finally the diseuse
reached such II stag" that she became terribly
dcfornled, and was really II frightful object
to behold. The skin was drawn tightly over
the bones of her face, and the flesh so fell
away, She looked as if she had been burned.
and II dreadful scar WAS the result. Her face
showed the bones rs prominently as does
Cardinal Manning's today. Her hands grew
Ike hlrd's claws, and she was unubl. to walk
LII t1l!c sho became almost helpless, and could
| only feed herself with tho gvcntest ,iitIcultv
Tins state of things continued for years All
this time poor B.irdctte was the most patient.
loving and devoted CT husbands. His af
le'tlonS seemed to increase with his wifu's dis
trcsS. He always spoke of her as "her serene
b@Iln"sS, and called their little boy "the
Prince" He used to dress bis wife. comb
a'sd arrange her lair, put bit of aco about
her neck, put on her lacn mits, etc, and then
tax" her up in his arms aud carry her wher
ever She wished to go AT the table he cut
her food, helped her feed herself, and held tho
cup OF glass while she drank He never
seemed to notice her dcformtics, and was
always loving, kind and attentive. If tbey
pissed the summer ut the sea Shore he would
tax" her to the beach, find shady and re-
tired place, put her in a chair, arrange her
comfortably, and then, throwing himself
upon the sand, read to her for hours. And
Gu, li. .f.f,nt in, mod l,,,
until they wero parted by death. Many of
the brightest and most laughable Of his con-
tribntoiis to tho press were written at the
bedside of his wife.
THE DANBCRY NEWS MAN
j. M. Bailey, known as The Danburv
Comm News man, is another example of n
hrmorst who has more than his share Of
trials. He is Il large, handsome man. with
black eyes and dark hair, now plentifullv
sprnklcd with gray. He lives very quietly
in l'anhury, Conn, and is either always at
lis little office ON Main street, or Mt his mod
"rm lrcsilcncc, with its pretty green lawns
and bed Of flowers He never spends an
evening away from home, and has not been
outside of Danbury for years. His poor wife
has lost her reason and demands all Of his at
tentlon. She thinks nobody in tho world can
do anything for her except her husband. He
must dress her und arrange her hair. and at
tend to all her wants. She is like n child. and
lie gives her all of his affection, ,inlc and at
tcn'lon, His devotion Is something heroic
and beautiful. Upon one occasion, so tho
people of Danbury say, she went to his office
unt asked him to do up her hair. 1t had
fallen down. He arranged it for her in the
pcasantest manner possible, did uil she
asked without the least annoyance, and then
took her home. Such are the facts concern
ing some of our well known humorists
Many more about others might he given, lut
we have enough to show that tler- is a dark
us well as a bright side to the life of those
who afford Tie public so much amusement.-
Fuller Walker in Kansas City Journal.